Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 on a Nikon D7100

[GrahamS]

I have been privileged to given a Nikon Micro-Nikkor 55mm f2.8 lens by a good friend. You can read what SLR Gear have to say about it here:
http://slrgear.com/reviews/showproduct. ... 403/cat/12" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
This lens has become legendary as a superb macro lens and one of the finest optics Nikon has ever made. I have mounted it on my Nikon D7100 which has a fairly high resolution 24 Mpx sensor. I intend to try it out properly supported on a sturdy tripod and in good light, but initially, I took it for a walk and took some hand held images, just to get the feel of it.


This combination


Produced these images hand held:

[Dennis Gallus]

Graham,

Those are stunning images. It's hard to pick a favorite, but the bee on the yellow flowers is terrific. I also like the way you've displayed the pendant.

With the additional magnification you get on DX format, that micro Nikkor should also be great for portraits.

Looking forward to seeing more results!

Best regards,
Dennis

[Julio1fer]

These are great. With your penchant for macro in the garden, I hope we can see more of these results. I like those berries, or whatever they are called.

I have one of those lenses, my father left it to me along with a Nikon FE. Have not tried it yet. Now I must.

[PFMcFarland]

Outstanding results, Graham.

PF

[GrahamS]

Thank you all for your praise. Dennis, you are quite right - I must try some portraiture with this lens. So much to do, so little time.....

Julio, you are missing a wonderful experience - get that lens out of the cupboard and use it!! The berries are actually Bramble berries which grow wild here. The yellow flowers are Ragwort, which also grow wild and are deadly poisonous to horses as they destroy the liver.

This fair and gentle land is a garden of Eden in summer. I am always astonished by the sheer abundance of wild berries and fruit that grows in the hedgerows and meadows, which are so important to the ecology. Farmers are now being "paid" to leave strips of land to return to meadow alongside their crops which is resulting in an increase in the insect and bird populations. It's a macro-photographer's paradise!

[Bennybee]

Very nice results indeed Graham.
I got myself the same lens a while ago, to use on my Olympus OMD (with an adapter ring). I bought it 'minty' from evilbay for a reasonable price. Unfortunately upon arrival I thought the focusing ring was a bit stiff to turn, so I sent it back to the seller in HK who would service it for me.
When it came back the ring indeed felt a bit easier to focus, but after a few days it 'seized up' again. My enthusiasm cooled off as a result and I haven't tried the lens yet since then. I think it is usable as it is - it won't exactly rip off the camera bayonet, but only just so. Oh well, maybe a sloppy focusing ring is even worse...

[GrahamS]

Very nice results indeed Graham.
I got myself the same lens a while ago, to use on my Olympus OMD (with an adapter ring). I bought it 'minty' from evilbay for a reasonable price. Unfortunately upon arrival I thought the focusing ring was a bit stiff to turn, so I sent it back to the seller in HK who would service it for me.
When it came back the ring indeed felt a bit easier to focus, but after a few days it 'seized up' again. My enthusiasm cooled off as a result and I haven't tried the lens yet since then. I think it is usable as it is - it won't exactly rip off the camera bayonet, but only just so. Oh well, maybe a sloppy focusing ring is even worse...

Benny, the focus ring on this lens is not a simple helicoid. The lens contains floating elements which move independently according to the focus distance, operated by cams. It sounds to me as if this mechanism is faulty in your lens - also, the "feel" of the focus ring is precisely calibrated to give what Nikon considers to be the perfect operability, not too stiff and not too loose and very very smooth with no play whatsoever. I would return the lens for a refund.

[Bennybee]

Hi Graham,
You got me seriously worried now. I'm afraid I have the lens for a bit too long now to get a refund. The seller is in Hong-Kong too... The couple of interior macro shots that I took with it on the OMD seemed sharp enough though. Does that prove anything?
Best,
Benny

[GrahamS]

Hi Graham,
You got me seriously worried now. I'm afraid I have the lens for a bit too long now to get a refund. The seller is in Hong-Kong too... The couple of interior macro shots that I took with it on the OMD seemed sharp enough though. Does that prove anything?
Best,
Benny

No. Based on what you said before, although the focus mechanism is working, it only works with effort. That means either some foreign object is jamming the mechanism or something is out of alignment or the lube grease has solidified, but I have never heard of this last happening on a Micro-Nikkor, so I vote for something stuck in the works or it has been dropped and something is out of alignment.

[Bennybee]

The lens is mint, so obviously has never been dropped. I think the grease has solidified. The lens may have been opened and re-greased at some point in time though : the interior of the lens smells like machine oil. None of my other Nikkors smells like that - only my Russian lenses have a similar bad smell... So, I guess that the previous owner or the seller have used the wrong oil or grease in the Micro-Nikkor.
Luckily the aperture blades are clean and dry (for now) and I had paid attention to buy a late S/N to avoid the known issue of oily aperture blades.
This is in fact the second 55mm Micro-Nikkor that I bought. The previous one had a slightly loose focusing ring with a hard point somewhere in the middle of the range. I think I will try to sell this one too and I'm definitely giving up on Micro-Nikkors.